August 27, 2019 — Hold everything.
Early last week, the Department of Marine Resources published a list of tentative dates for a second round of lobster zone council meetings relating to the measures Maine intends to submit to the National Marine Fisheries Service to reduce risk to right whales supposedly posed by lobster gear.
At the end of the week, DMR postponed the meetings scheduled for Zone C in Stonington and Zone E in Wiscasset.
On Tuesday, DMR sent out a notice postponing all the zone council meetings until further notice.
“At this time, DMR is advising the industry that the entire schedule of meetings is currently on hold,” the notice from DMR Lobster Resource Manager Sarah Cotnoir said. “The commissioner (Patrick Keliher) regrets the delays but wants to ensure that we develop a proposal for submission to NMFS that reflects a thorough review of all data.”